Schaller mom placed on probation for growing pot

SAC CITY, Iowa | A Schaller, Iowa, woman who was charged along with her son for growing marijuana in their home has been placed on probation.

Glenda Turnquist, 58, entered an Alford plea Wednesday in Sac County District Court to one count of manufacturing a controlled substance. In an Alford plea, the defendant admits no guilt, but a guilty plea is entered into the court record.

District Associate Judge Joseph McCarville gave Turnquist a deferred judgment on the conviction and placed Turnquist on probation for one year. A deferred judgment allows Turnquist's conviction to be expunged from her record if she successfully completes probation.

Turnquist and her son, Keegan Cross, were arrested March 30 after Sac County Sheriff's deputies executed a search warrant at a home in the 500 block of Perth Street in Schaller and found 80 marijuana plants, growing lamps, watering pumps, potting soil and fertilizer.

Cross, 35, previously pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. His five-year prison sentence was suspended and he was placed on three years probation.